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Page 1 Graduate Recruiter’s Disability Café 15 th September 2010, London. On the 15 th September 2010 a collection of graduate recruiters, graduate service providers and disabled graduates gathered at the host venue of Herbert Smith to take part in the second Disability Café. It was hosted by Helen Cooke of My+Consulting, facilitated by Helen Chapman of Meeting Magic and graphically recorded by Ben Robinson, also of Meeting Magic.

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Page 2 Outcomes, Agenda, Rules & Roles David Brynmor-Thomas from Herbert Smith welcomed everyone to the venue with a short introduction. Helen Cooke then opened the Disability Cafe and thanked people for turning up in such positive numbers. Helen Chapman went on to cover the outcomes of the Cafe, the agenda, rules and roles expected.

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Disability Café Format The attendees tested the Café style by brainstorming what were the best of their current graduate recruitment process.

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Rob Farace, National Resourcing Manager, NHS spoke about the adjustments they make during their recruitment process. Some of the key points Rob made were: they make a real effort to meet candidates beforehand to confirm their requirements, check any equipment needs, build rapport and reassure them about the entire process. support individuals to be at ease and reduce stress for them on the day. after asking for permission from the disabled candidate, inform other candidates of the needs and adjustments being made. allocate a buddy for the duration of the process, allowing regular support and again reducing stress. the importance of pushing back and clarifying why someone might want an adjustment to be made, and whether this is actually necessary. Our Guest Speaker...

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Page 6 Round 1 of the Caf é... The attendees launched into the first round of cafe conversations by discussing this question: Taking into consideration what you have heard, what improvements or changes to your current approach may you wish to consider to ensure that the adjustments you make are appropriate and robust?

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Keynote 2 Stacey Rowe spoke about her experiences of going through graduate recruitment processes as an applicant with a sight impairment. Stacey spoke about her preference to use her own equipment during assessment centres, rather than equipment that was unfamiliar to her. Peter Barrett spoke about the difficulties he faced in gaining employment prior to gaining support from Prospects. As someone with Asperger’s Syndrome, Peter particularly found it hard to be interviewed by a panel of people. An adjustment made from him by Goldman Sachs was to have 3 separate interviews rather than one panel interview. Dipti Bhadresa also spoke about her experiences of navigating graduate recruitment processes with a sight impairment. Additional time and printouts in larger font were 2 simple adjustments Dipti benefited from.

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Page 9 Round two of the cafe conversations…. Ensuring appropriate adjustments are made isn’t always easy. This may be due to resource, time, or knowledge. What challenges are you currently facing and how could you overcome these?